Why speed matters
- People leave pages that take too long to load, especially on phones.
- Page experience is one of the signals Google uses in ranking.
- A fast site feels more trustworthy.
The three Core Web Vitals
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): how long the main content takes to appear. Good is 2.5 seconds or less.
- Interaction to Next Paint (INP): how quickly the page responds when someone taps or clicks. Good is 200 milliseconds or less.
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): how much the page jumps around while loading. Good is 0.1 or less.
How to check your site
Run your main pages through Google's free PageSpeed Insights tool. Google Search Console also has a Core Web Vitals report based on real visitors. Test the mobile result first, since that is where most sites struggle.
The fixes that matter most
- Images: resize them to the size they are displayed, compress them and use a modern format. This is usually the biggest win.
- Caching: serve saved copies of pages so the server does less work.
- Fewer plugins and scripts: every chat widget, tracker and slider adds weight.
- Fonts: load only the families and weights you actually use.
- Hosting: cheap shared hosting has a ceiling that no amount of tuning will raise.
- Reserve space: set dimensions for images and embeds so the layout doesn't shift.
What not to chase
A perfect score is not the goal. A site that passes the three thresholds on mobile and loads quickly for real visitors is doing its job. Past that point, time is better spent on content.
Keep it fast
Sites slow down as images and plugins are added. Check speed monthly as part of regular maintenance.
Speed is part of every site we build and every site we maintain. See website design, hosting and care.